Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 31(A)
For the Music Director. A Psalm of David.
1 In You, O Lord, do I seek refuge;
may I never be ashamed;
deliver me in Your righteousness.
2 Incline Your ear to me;
deliver me speedily;
be my strong rock,
a strong fortress to save me.
3 For You are my rock and my fortress;
for Your name’s sake lead me and guide me.
4 Lead me out of the net that they have hidden for me,
for You are my strength.
5 Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth.
6 I have hated those who regard worthless vanity,
but I trust in the Lord.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in Your lovingkindness,
for You have seen my trouble;
You have known my soul in adversities,
8 and have not delivered me up into the hand of the enemy;
You have set my feet in a broad place.
9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;
my eye wastes away with grief,
yes, my soul and my body.
10 For my life is spent with grief,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
and my bones waste away.
11 I became a reproach among all my enemies,
but especially among my neighbors,
and a dread to my acquaintances;
those who saw me outside fled from me.
12 I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind;
I am like a broken vessel.
13 For I have heard the slander of many;
fear was on every side;
while they took counsel together against me,
they planned to take away my life.
14 But I trusted in You, O Lord;
I said, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in Your hand;
deliver me from the hand of my enemies
and my pursuers.
16 Make Your face to shine on Your servant;
save me by Your lovingkindness.
17 Do not let me be ashamed, O Lord,
for I have called on You;
let the wicked be ashamed,
and let them be silent in the grave.
18 Let the lying lips be put to silence,
who speak arrogantly
in pride and contempt against the righteous.
19 Oh, how great is Your goodness,
which You have laid up for those who fear You,
which You have done for those
seeking refuge in You before people!
20 You will hide them in the secret of Your presence
from conspirators;
You will keep them secretly in a shelter
from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord,
for He has shown me His marvelous lovingkindness
in a fortified city.
22 For I said in my haste,
“I am cut off from before Your eyes.”
Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications
when I cried to You.
23 Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints,
for the Lord preserves the faithful,
but amply repays the one who acts in pride.
24 Be strong, and He will strengthen your heart,
all you who wait for the Lord.
Psalm 35
A Psalm of David.
1 Plead my cause, O Lord, with my adversaries;
fight those who fight me.
2 Take hold of the large shield and small shield,
and rise up for my help.
3 Draw the spear and javelin
against those who pursue me.
Say to my soul,
“I am Your salvation.”
4 May those who seek my life
be ashamed and humiliated;
may those who plan my injury
be turned back and put to shame.
5 May they be as chaff before the wind,
and may the angel of the Lord cast them down.
6 May their way be dark and slippery,
and may the angel of the Lord pursue them.
7 For without cause they have hidden their net for me in a pit,
which they have dug without cause for my soul.
8 Let destruction come on him without warning,
and let the net that he hid ensnare him;
let him fall into it, to his destruction.
9 My soul will be joyful in the Lord;
it will rejoice in His salvation.
10 All my bones will say,
“Lord, who is like You,
who delivers the poor from a stronger one,
the poor and the needy from the one who robs them?”
11 Witnesses intent on violence rose up;
they accused me of things I knew nothing about.
12 They rewarded me evil for good,
the bereavement of my soul.
13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled my soul with fasting;
and my prayer returns to my own heart.
14 I paced as though he were my friend or brother;
I bowed down lamenting,
as one who mourns for a mother.
15 But in my adversity they rejoiced and gathered together;
assailants gathered together against me, though I was unaware;
they tore me apart and did not stop;
16 with hypocritical mockers in feasts,
they gnashed on me with their teeth.
17 Lord, how long will You look on?
Rescue my soul from their destructions,
my life from the lions.
18 I will give You thanks in the great congregation;
I will praise You among a mighty people.
19 May my deceitful enemies
not rejoice over me;
nor may those who hate me without cause
wink with their eye.
20 For they do not speak peace,
but they devise deceitful matters
against the restful ones in the land.
21 They opened their mouth wide against me,
and said, “Aha, aha, our eye has seen it.”
22 This You have seen, O Lord; do not be silent;
O Lord, be not far from me.
23 Rouse Yourself and awake for my judgment,
for my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 Judge me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness,
and may they not rejoice over me.
25 May they not say in their hearts, “Ah, we have our soul’s desire.”
May they not say, “We have swallowed him up.”
26 May those who rejoice at my harm be ashamed
and altogether put to shame;
may they be clothed with shame and dishonor
who magnify themselves against me.
27 May those who favor my righteous cause
shout for joy and be glad;
may they say continually, “The Lord be magnified,
who delights in the peace of His servant.”
28 My tongue will speak of Your righteousness
and of Your praise all the day long.
The Sign of Immanuel
10 Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying: 11 Ask for a sign from the Lord your God. Make it either as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.
12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, nor will I tempt the Lord.
13 Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David. Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: The virgin[a] shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.[b] 15 Curds and honey he shall eat at the time that he knows enough to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread shall be forsaken of both her kings. 17 The Lord shall bring upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father’s house, days that have not come from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah, even the king of Assyria.”
18 In that day the Lord shall whistle for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 They shall come, and all of them shall rest in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and on all thorns, and on all bushes. 20 In that same day the Lord shall shave with a hired razor, from regions beyond the River,[c] with the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the legs, and it shall also remove the beard. 21 In that day a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep, 22 and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he shall eat curds; for everyone who is left in the land shall eat curds and honey. 23 In that day every place where there were a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels[d] of silver, shall become briers and thorns. 24 With arrows and with bows shall men come there because all the land shall become briers and thorns. 25 On all hills that used to be cultivated with the hoe, you will not go there for fear of briers and thorns. But it shall be for pasturing oxen and for sheep to tread.
Chosen for Salvation
13 But we are bound to always give thanks to God for you, beloved brothers of the Lord, because God has from the beginning called you to salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief of the truth. 14 To this He called you by our gospel, to obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word or by our letter.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God our Father, who has loved us and has given us eternal consolation and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.
Pray for Us
3 Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may quickly spread and be glorified, even as it did with you. 2 And pray that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for not all men have faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. 4 We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will do the things which we command you. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
The Lord’s Supper(A)
14 When the hour had come, He and the twelve apostles with Him sat down. 15 And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will never eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
17 And He took the cup and gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 Then He took the bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”
20 In like manner, He took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood which is shed for you. 21 But see the hand of him who betrays Me is with Me at the table. 22 Indeed, the Son of Man goes as it has been determined. But woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!” 23 They began to inquire among themselves which of them it was who would do this.
The Dispute About Greatness
24 There was also rivalry among them concerning which of them was to be counted the greatest. 25 He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But you are not so. Instead, let him who is greatest among you be as the younger, and he who rules as he who serves. 27 For who is greater: he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? But I am among you as He who serves. 28 You are those who have continued with Me in My trials. 29 And I appoint to you a kingdom as My Father has appointed one to Me, 30 so that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.